Colorado

[co1111]

Are there breeders near grand junction or surrounding western slope? I have ordered chicks, but have also enjoyed buying from locals on the front range. Since relocating, I know they must be here, but have had a harder time finding them. Thanks

 

[showmanshiptop]

Good question. I know there are a couple. One is out of Palacade and I know there was a pheasant breeder near Delta. The one from Palacade has pretty good Bantams.

 

[lomine]

@co1111 Are you looking for a specific breed? If so you might try looking for breeder lists on their club sites. Of maybe ask at a local feed store. The employees/owners at smaller stores might know of the people that breed. That's all I got.

 

[co1111]

Both good thoughts. Thanks. I'm not super picky; often just wanting to "get to know" different breeds. We ordered a couple cochins this spring which ended up being male, so they are gone now. It would be fun to again. Others that interest me are Brahmas, welsummer, Jersey giants,and some others.

 

[showmanshiptop]

I don't even currently know Colorado breeders with those breeds of the top of my head.

 

[lomine]

I got my first chicken egg. My BLRW laid it under one of my bushes. Here's a picture with it and one of my duck eggs.

 

[Mtn Margie]

Congrats!

 

[laurajb]

Help - my chickens are bullies! I have 3 pullets (9 months old) who have been the only ones since they were born. In August we added 3 babies. They have been inside the house most of the time. When they were 6-8 weeks I started letting them run around the yard during the day (they're now almost 4 months old). When I let them free-range in the yard with the bigger chicks, the bigger chicks chase, intimidate and peck at the littles. Lately they've been co-existing better in the yard, but the 2 groups are staying far away from each other. The littles are pretty scared of the bigs.

About a week ago, I tried putting the littles in the coop/run overnight. I put a big cardboard box (weighted) with their own waater, food and smaller door. The next morning the littles were cowered in the corner and the bigs had eaten a lot of the box! Last night I tried again to put them together for the night and this morning the littles all had bloody beaks, were terrified, shaking and squished into a little crevice behind the big water jug.

The littles can't live inside forever, but the bigs are so brutal, I feel like I can't leave them in the coop/run either. Up until the little chicks arrived, the bigs have been (and still are around people) super gentle and sweet. What gives???

Any advice? I've tried the suggestions I could find: putting a small 'home' for them in the big coop and letting them get acquainted in the yard gradually increasing exposure. Do I need a bigger coop and run to gie them even more space?

Gah, chicken drama!!

 

[Latestarter]

Hey Laura, welcome to the wonderful world of chicken integration. Some questions: 1. Square footage of the inside of the coop? 2. Square footage inside the run? 3. linear length of roost space? 4. Type/breed of birds and LF or Bantam? Each LF bird should have a minimum of 4-6 square feet of floor space in the coop. There should be 10 square feet + of "floor" space in the run per bird. There should be at least 12 linear inches of space on the roost per bird on the highest roost. They will all want to be on the highest roost available and fight for that position. Some breeds of bird are just meaner than others... Some bred lines of a particular bird become mean and if not culled judiciously, meanness will be passed down/hereditary.

Chickens in a flock have a "pecking order" I think the name alone makes it pretty self explanatory. Mixing in juvenile birds with basically adult birds, in many cases, will cause the younger birds to be abused by the older ones. Typically when trying to integrate the younger/newer additions will be kept in the same area but separated so they can't come into direct contact. This allows them to become acquainted with each other as a group. This could be for anywhere from a week to several. When out in the run, the same thing applies. you need to either partition off an area just for the littles or make sure they have hiding places they can access where the biggies can't get at them. Provision has to be made for their food and water as well. If they're fighting over the food you give them it indicates to me that you aren't feeding them enough. You should always feed in multiple areas so the weaker/lower order birds are able to get enough to eat.

After whatever time you feel is adequate where they seem to be going about their daily business without negative interaction between them, one night, remove the partitions and after dark when the adult birds are all arranged on the roost, take the littles and place them up on the roost with the adults. There will still be squabbles as the pecking order continuously adjusts over time as birds change positions for various reasons that only they know. Generally once the new pecking order has been established, things calm down, but not always... some birds are just born mean and once they ID a potential victim they will pick on them mercilessly until something happens or is done to stop them.

If you can't get the adults to accept the young birds you have several options... a separate coop and run for them either within the existing or completely separate. You can give one group or the other a free trip to freezer camp. Or if you have them as "pets", sell or gift one group or the other. Hope this helps. Good luck and let us know please!

 

[laurajb]

Thank you - wonderful advice and info! The coop is about 3x8 and the run 8x8. I let them all out in the backyard daily to stretch their wings. There is about 14 ft of roosting bar space, but only one of the chickens uses a roosting bar. The others snuggle in their groups on the ground. There are 4 orpingtons, 2 americaunas and 1 barred rock. Good to know I'm not alone in this. I'll pick up some chicken wire tonight and build a temporary run within the run for the littles. It's helpful to know the timeframe, too, that they might need to be separated in the coop/run for quite a while. Thank you!!